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Smoking used to be cool

Remember when smoking was the way to be seen?
Back when all our idols did it.
From Sean Connery to James Dean.
A cigarette hanging lazy from their lip.
So cool it made me wanna fake scream.
Or get all starry-eyed and daydream.
Then the world changed, and our bodies became temples of health.
Now I could live longer.
And perhaps play a different hand to the one I was dealt.
With quinoa and wheatgrass and gluten-free bread.
I could be better.
But a voice inside screamed to be shot in the head.
Cos I missed the days of whisky and decadence.
Where I twerked in clubs, my body all twisty and elegant.
And the way I flirted had a kind of trippy intelligence.
But now I just spend my days in health stores and coffee shops.
Damn.
It wasn’t long ago when Friday night dinner was one that I double dropped.
But even back then I was burning out.
And needed a plan to stop the rot.
Cos this lifestyle couldn’t last, and before long would have to stop.
So I ditched the night-time narcotics for fitbits and yoga mats.
With weekends spent browsing for more wholesome hits.
Like curtains and cushions and toaster racks.
Knowing this was way worse than my youth.
But somehow, now, I was kinda trapped and loathe to act.
Cos my joys, it seemed, were cups of tea.
I had to grow up and face that fact.
But life is never as black and white as people say.
Sometimes, when you clear an obstacle, you still get wet like a steeplechase.
But this is the glory of the human existence.
And shouldn’t be a lethal race.
So if I’m having a good time and not hurting anyone.
Should I be punished for my ‘evil traits’?
But whatever.
Right now, on the table, lurks that cigarette.
Its rush of calm is in my grasp.
So where’s the harm if I go ahead and take that bet?
Look at it, laying there all seductive.
The sunlight framing its silhouette.
With witnesses around I try and ignore it.
And attempt to casually feign regret.
But in reality can’t hide my dismay.
As I put it down so it’s laid to rest.
Cos frankly, I’ve been racking up debt for decades.
So maybe now it’s time I paid that cheque?
Cos ribbons of impurity continue to unravel in my mind.
And get me thinking, should I save these threads?
Cos I need both the rebel and the sensible.
And if I don’t feed them equally.
Then I may as well be as good as dead.